West Creek Restoration Project Successfully Completed!

Trout Unlimited and Coalition for the Upper South Platte West Creek Restoration Project Successfully Completed!

On September 25, 2102, a group of 16 energetic volunteers from the Cutthroat Chapter and the Coalition for the Upper South Platte added the finishing restoration touches to a reconstructed stretch of West Creek.  I just six hours time, approximately 1500 willow shoots were planted along the stream edges.  What makes this amazing is that the group locally harvested native willow branches and prepared them for planting by stripping the leaves and cutting them into 24 inch long willow shoots.  This is a proven process as shoots planted a month ago are already sprouting new growth.

Thanks to all the volunteers for a great days work and thanks to CUSP for providing direction and equipment to get the job done.

This work supports recent major river restoration in the Trail Creek corridor, greatly impacted from the Hayman burn, which includes: stream channel narrowing, and placement of natural materials such as burned trees and boulders (in stream structures) to raise the height of creeks and stabilize steep eroded banks. Efforts will re-create more natural flows and fight erosion, benefiting downstream fisheries and water supplies from sedimentation.